On the border

Yet,India must not lose sight of the bigger imperative to deliver on the substance of bilateral ties with Bangladesh. This new evening on the border would never have arrived without the leap taken in Indo-Bangla relations over the last few years,under Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. It is that recast architecture of friendship that is also vulnerable now as Bangladesh is convulsed by domestic turmoil. With a violently mobilised Jamaat-e-Islami and Hefazat-e-Islam battling the police on the streets and the near-complete breakdown of communication between the ruling Awami League and the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party which counts the Jamaat as an important ally,although it has been declared ineligible for the coming election the gains of these years are imperilled.

Indias scope for manoeuvre in Dhaka,and for reaching out to a government under siege,is narrowing. But that space has also been curtailed by New Delhis own failure to deliver on the issues that matter most to Dhaka,namely,the land boundary agreement (LBA) to exchange the enclaves,and the sharing of the Teesta waters. This failure has resulted from Indias own blinkered domestic politics,not Bangladeshs. In not keeping its promises,Delhi has also failed the progressive and secular millions in Bangladesh who are battling to save the original,more tolerant,idea of their country,and who,unlike the fundamentalists,regard India as a friend. The government must use the last window of the winter session of Parliament before Bangladesh itself goes to polls to clear the LBA. That is Delhis topmost task vis-a-vis Dhaka.